Srinagar, Sep 30: Peoples Conference president and MLA Sajad Lone on Wednesday questioned the EWS criteria for government jobs in Jammu and Kashmir, calling for a uniform definition of a poor person based on existing ration-card categories.
Speaking in the Legislative Assembly, Lone pointed to an alleged disparity between AAY/BPL and priority household beneficiaries and the issuance of EWS certificates in Jammu and Kashmir.
“When the same government says that 37 lakh poor people are in Kashmir and 29 lakh poor people are in Jammu, how can it be that in the last one year 24,000 EWS certificates have come from Jammu, while only 24,000 have come from Kashmir?” he asked.
Lone said the “problem is the asset criteria”, arguing that a person could be considered poor for receiving subsidised food but become ineligible for EWS benefits when applying for a government job.
“When he goes for ration, for his BPL or AAY card, he is poor. But when he goes for a job, he becomes rich overnight,” he said.
Citing Kerala, Lone said AAY and BPL/priority household status could be used as the yardstick for EWS eligibility.
He also questioned the use of the Centre’s EWS definition for J&K government jobs, saying, “For state jobs, we are under no legal binding that we use that.”
Lone said 40,000 recruitments were pending and argued that the choice of EWS criteria could significantly affect the regional distribution of beneficiaries.
“I think government should have a uniform definition of poor,” he said. “A poor person is a person who has a priority household ration card and an AAY ration card.”
“You cannot have two definitions, one for employment and one for the Department of Food and Supply,” he added.
